MotoGP Preview
Round 3: Istanbul, Turkey
By David Emmett
April 27, 2006

As a rule, riders don't like the recently built circuits. Not so much because it means they have a new track to learn, but more because of the nature of the newer circuits: designed to equalize the speed disparities of Formula One, and to maximize the spectator view by fitting inside a limited chunk of real estate, they tend to feature a lot of slow corners, with shapes that look good on the screen of a computer modeling program.

Istanbul, however, is different. The track has been designed to make the best use of the natural rolling landscape, with, for example, turn 1 flowing downhill, then uphill again, loading up the front before you start braking for turn two. The track flows up and down the hillsides, with corners at every speed, including the fastest corner of the season, turn 11, a banked, uphill, flat-out-in-fifth 170 mph right-hander, which Nicky Hayden summed up as "sorting the men from the boys," followed by the super-slow über-chicane combination of turns 12, 13, and 14, which saw spectacular place-swapping action on every lap during the 125cc race at last year’s inaugural Turkish GP. To be fast, you need to get your bike perfectly set up, and set up to be both stable at very high speed, and also to turn quickly enough through the slow chicane. It is a riders' track, rewarding every aspect of their craft, from set up, to high-speed chases, to heavy braking and quick changes of direction.

And last year's race gave us plenty to look forward to this year: Casey Stoner rode a magnificent race, holding off a chasing Dani Pedrosa to the line. That, of course, was in the 250cc race, and in the MotoGP race, Marco Melandri beat Valentino Rossi in a straight contest. This year, they're all together in one race.

So, what can we expect? Loris Capirossi missed last year's race due to an injury sustained at Phillip Island, so as championship leader, he starts at a disadvantage. Added to that is the fact that last year, Michelin riders took most of the top spots, with only Carlos Checa on the Bridgestone-shod Ducati in 5th, and Shinya Nakano in 10th. So Loris is a long way short of being a dead cert to extend his lead. Fellow Marlboro Ducati rider Sete Gibernau harbors unhappy memories of last year's race, as he ran off the track while leading, finishing a disappointing fourth.

The main candidate for the win would normally be Melandri, after his dominant showing last year. But last year's race came at the end of the season, just as Melandri was really starting to push for victories. So far this year, “Macho” has failed to repeat this form, finishing 5 th and 7th in the two previous races. His teammate Toni Elias has had the better start to the season, and had a reasonable run last year, so he could be a threat.

Fresh off a win at Qatar, all eyes will, as always, be on Rossi. But there are good reasons to think that winning at Istanbul is not going to be easy. Firstly, Rossi doesn't really like the track, and they had setup problems last year. Secondly, because the track is so new, it's still very grippy, which will exacerbate the chatter problems that have plagued the Yamaha team from the start of the season. But Rossi can't afford to lose too many points, when there are so many young guns snapping at his heels, so he'll be pushing. As for his Camel Yamaha teammate, Colin Edwards has struggled so far this year, and he was seventh last year in Istanbul.

Those young guns include Stoner and Pedrosa. Stoner has had two great outings, with his domination of practice at Qatar proving he is adapting to the top class very quickly. Not as quickly as the man Stoner beat at Istanbul last year, though. Confounding doubts about his physical capacity to control a MotoGP bike to the end of a race, the pint-sized Pedrosa has made incredible headway in just two races. At Jerez, he faded with four laps to go, but at Qatar, he pushed hard all the way to the end.

Pedrosa's Repsol teammate, Nicky Hayden, also seems to have found some improvement. He fought the bike to the line at Jerez, but Qatar was more smooth and controlled for Hayden. And third last year at Istanbul means he shows promise for Sunday's race. Hayden and Capirossi will likely be the two men Rossi will be watching closest.

Istanbul can hardly be as catastrophic for Rizla Suzuki as Qatar proved to be. Multiple engine failures, including two in the race, is very bad news for the team, and has frustrated both Chris Vermeulen and John Hopkins, though only Hopper resorted to physical violence to express his frustration. If at least one bike doesn't finish, then heads may start to roll in the project. Paul Denning, the team manager, has already made some half-veiled threats to the engineers back in Japan, and another bad weekend may leave those threats less than half-veiled.

The other second-rung factory team, Kawasaki, has been making slow and steady progress, and they hope to start pushing their way up the finishing order. But the fresh influx of talent has made this an uphill task.

Old talent, reinvigorated and reinvented, is one of the problems that Nakano and De Puniet face. Old talent comes in two different-but-interesting forms: Kenny Roberts Jr. on the Team KR bike and Checa on the Dunlop-shod Tech3 Yamaha. Kenny has been excellent so far this year and has rediscovered his racing drive now that he’s no longer struggling with the Suzuki. Team KR is constantly working on the chassis for the Honda-powered bike, so they have room for improvement, and the bike is already better than most people expected. Checa is another old rider who has found new inspiration in getting sacked, though he is at a distinct disadvantage with the Dunlops, which, though showing promise, have a long way to go before they are truly competitive. Checa's teammate James Ellison has also made major leaps forward, his real problem being that he started from such a long way back, his previous experience being on the brave (but woefully underpowered) WCM machine.

Luis d'Antin was vitriolic about Dunlop after Qatar, accusing the company of not providing enough tires, but his riders, Jose Luis Cardoso and Alex Hofmann, have not shown any signs of challenging for top-10 positions, so it’s not sure how much weight his words will carry.

Then, of course, there’s poor old Makoto Tamada. A previous podium candidate and GP winner, he’s languishing at the bottom of the standings, pointless, even though he’s on a Michelin-shod Honda. Another poor performance will do nothing for his chances of remaining on a Honda next year.

All in all, there is a lot at stake this weekend, and no clear favorite. It looks like being another corker.

And if you want to see just how spectacular motorcycle racing can be, be sure to catch the 125cc race. Last year's was an epic battle, with five or more riders entering the chicane at turn 12, and no way of knowing who would be leading just a few yards further, out of turn 14, nor how many would make it through—racing at its best!

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